St Pancras railway station
St Pancras is a major railway stations of London. It is located in the London Borough of Camden between the construction of the British Library to the west and King's Cross Station in the east. In 2011, it took 22.032 million passengers.
The train station is in Travelcard Zone 1 and is the starting point of the trains on the Midland Main Line. He is regarded as an architectural masterpiece of the Victorian era. The Main Hall, after its architect William Henry Barlow also called Barlow trainshed, was at the time of its establishment, the largest in the world, consisting of a single arch hall. Preceded by St Pancras Chambers, formerly the Midland Grand Hotel, one of the most impressive examples of Gothic Revival architecture, designed by George Gilbert Scott.
Operation
St Pancras is the London terminus of the express trains of the company East Midlands Trains. They run in the East Midlands and Yorkshire after, including Luton, Bedford, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. Partly trains also to Burton -upon -Trent, Leeds, Barnsley, Scarborough and York.
The concourse was closed until November 2007 for extensive renovations. From 12 April 2004 to 14 July 2006, the trains stopped further north in a temporary station. The platforms in the temporary station was accessible via elevators and escalators. Under the main hall is the entrance to the underground station King's Cross St. Pancras.
The tracks 11 to 14 are designed for 225 km / h fast regional trains to Kent and during the 2012 Olympic Games for the Olympic Javelin shuttle train to Stratford International station to the Olympic Village and the venues.
The tracks 5-10 are part of the High Speed 1 route, including the Union Railway (North ), and are managed by National Rail only. For these tracks, the train control system KVB is required.
The tracks 1 to 4 serve as the terminus of the Midland Main Line and are completely managed by Network Rail. Here are command and signaling required by British standards.
The international platforms ( 5 to 10) are 760 mm above rail level ( SOK ) high, the funds earmarked for the national transport platforms have the British standard height of 915 mm above rail level.
A new station for the Thameslink trains that is partially adjacent to and partially under the belonging to HS1 tracks, replaced on 9 December 2007 the King's Cross Thameslink station. Also entrances to the stations of the London Underground were redesigned.
International traffic
Since 14 November 2007, St Pancras new end of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, on the run, the Euro Star trains to Paris and Brussels. These use the central tracks 5-10 in the main hall. There are special security arrangements for the Euro Star, it is necessary that passengers check in before boarding the train with her ticket and a passenger and through baggage check, like at an airport. The space provided check -in area was below the established platforms that are six feet above the street level. Originally, the vault was used to store beer barrels that had been transported here from Burton -upon -Trent. Any assets that the Euro Star tracks are separated by glass walls from the rest of the train station and with escalators and elevators from the check -in area accessible.
On 19 October 2010, the first time took an ICE into the station after he had crossed the Euro Tunnel. On June 14, 2013 Euro Tunnel issued by Deutsche Bahn, the permit for the drive-through. Expected from 2016 then drives the ICE to Cologne and Frankfurt ( Main). The connection St Pancras -Amsterdam is planned.
History
The construction of the station goes back to the initiative of the Midland Railway. Before the 1860s, this company had a number of tracks in the Midlands and north of London, but not their own route to the capital. Since 1840 the Midland trains ran between a branch at Rugby and London on the route of the London and North Western Railway. With the steady growth in traffic this route was soon overloaded and delays were common.
About 1845, towards the end of the era of "railway fever " (railway mania ), the plan was a new railway line to London. 1846 approved the Parliament the route of the Great Northern Railway in 1847 and those of the Midland Railway from Leicester to Hitchin. While the former line was built, the Midland route had to be postponed due to financial difficulties. Businesses in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire exerted pressure to still build the track, were led by William Whitbread said 12 percent of the land concerned. 1853 authorized the Parliament of the revised plan and mid- 1857, the route was opened. The Midland Railway secured for the next seven years, the operating rights. The company now had each a distance to Euston and King's Cross.
Mid- 1862 led the limited capacity of the feeder lines to arguments between the Midland Railway and the Great Northern Railway. The Midland Railway took the opportunity to build its own access line. The survey work for the 80 -kilometer route between Bedford and London began in October 1862. However, the company had already begun in 1861, to purchase in the area of the then independent municipality of St Pancras land.
St Pancras was then an unattractive area with slums, a gas station, Regent 's Canal and an ancient church graveyard. The Midland Railway chose as the location for the head station land immediately west of the station King's Cross. The landowner cleared the land for £ 19,500 and sold for a further £ 200, the residents who received no compensation. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 1867, piece by piece in Wanstead. 1868/69 was made for the parish St Pancras a £ 12,000 more expensive building in Kentish Town.
The plans for the station took some time to complete. The slightly sloping terrain making the construction of something and the directors of the Midland Railway wanted to leave with the new building a lasting impression with the Londoners. Chief engineer William Henry Barlow designed the concourse with a single 74 -meter wide arc, then the world's largest structure of its kind The design followed a purely economic principles, the available space should be used as much as possible without interfering components in between. Front of the hall space for the front was provided with hotel, the plan was finally approved early in 1865.
For the design of the additional building and the hotel an architectural competition was held. Eleven architects submitted in August 1865 their designs. In January 1866, the choice fell on a brick building in neo-Gothic style, designed by the prominent architect George Gilbert Scott. Scott's design was by far the most expensive, the cost was £ 315,000. But this was definitely in the interest of the Midland Railway directors, as they were able to surpass all the other main stations with this magnificent building. The roof was tendered separately and cost £ 117,000.
Construction began in the fall of 1864, first with the construction of a temporary bridge over the canal and the evacuation of the settlements. The foundation stone of the station in July 1866. On 1 October 1868 the railway station was inaugurated, even if he was not finished yet. The first train to Manchester drove without stopping to Leicester. This was then the longest train journey in the world non-stop service (156 km).
The Midland Grand Hotel was opened on 5 May 1873. The total cost for the entire station eventually amounted to £ 438,000. The hotel was closed in 1935 and thereafter used until the mid-1980s as an office building. Later it was used several times as a venue for film and television productions, including Batman Begins and the first video of the Spice Girls.
For the later vacant buildings 2005 appropriate planning permission was granted. In May 2011, the Marriott group, finally, the hotel re-opened under the name of St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
Trivia
- The train station scenes in the Harry Potter films were partly filmed in St Pancras Station.
- In Douglas Adams ' novel The long dark afternoon tea the soul of the train station is the "earthly " counterpart of Valhalla.